Breast cancer knows few age boundaries

Oct. 19, 2012

Robert L. Bradley

Written by

[ EDITOR ]

This is Upstate Parent’s annual baby issue, and whether you are expecting your first child, or just delivered your third, this is the issue for you.

This month, our writers take a look at many of the issues important to new moms and dads.

Another issue that’s important to families is breast cancer awareness. As parents, I think we have a responsibilty to ourselves and our families to do what we can to stay healthy. The best way for us to stay healthy is to be educated about health issues and proactive in our health care regimens.

Normally, we present a child on the cover of Upstate Parent. But this month, after seeing photographer Cindy Hosea’s photographs of Dawn Hays and her two daughters, we elected to take a different path.

Dawn’s story is one which we felt was critically important to share with our readers. Many people think of cancer as a disease that only strikes older people. But that’s not the case. Dawn was 36 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s young. But as you’ll find out in writer Angie Campbell’s story on Page 17, breast cancer strikes women — and even men — of all ages.

Aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in American women, affecting one out of eight women over the course of a lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society.

The National Breast Cancer Awareness Month organization — www.nbcam.org — is a collaboration of national public service organizations, professional medical associations and government agencies that work together to promote breast cancer awareness, share information on the disease and provide greater access to services.

I hope you will read our story this month and then ask yourself if there’s anything you should be doing for your health and wellness that you are not. As with many things, being educated and informed is often the key.

I hope, in some small way, we can enlighten, educate or encourage you this month.